OUR APPROACH

A word typically used by Indian tailors, chindi means waste fabric

We are a group of thinkers, makers, doers and designers, guided by one mission—to find design-led solutions to the problem of textile and fashion waste. We collaborate with brands, factories, and craftspeople to turn chindi into new materials and products.

Our efforts are guided by a single mission—to find a lasting solution to the problem of textile waste. We want to tidy the fashion industry’s mess. Believers in inter-dependence, we collaborate with brands, factories and craftspeople to turnchindiinto new materials and products.

The fashion industry is producing nearly a billion garments every year

After just 3-5 wears, 60% of the clothes we discard are being landfilled

It takes 2,700 litres of water to make a single T-shirt

The chemical dyeing of clothes accounts for 20% of the globe’s industrial waste water

The fashion industry emits more greenhouse gases than shipping and aviation together

—Our environment is fast becoming the casualty of our wardrobes—

THE PROBLEM FOR INDIA

Measuring thousands of tonnes, discarded clothes and production waste are regularly shipped to developing countries like India. India is also one of the largest producers and exporter of textiles in the world. Not just are we producing waste in huge quantities, we are also accountable for the bulk of this world’s textile waste. So, the problem of textile waste for Chindi is even closer home.

—We believe the future is circular. Not just should the life cycles of products be made longer, we must also reduce our dependence on virgin materials.—

OUR METHOD

We assess the different kinds of waste that comes out of the fashion industry and determine how best to use the chindi we find. We currently work with used and discarded garments that are made from cotton and wool.

Collection & Sorting

In partnership with a recycling facility in India, we collect, sort and segregate textile waste. Sorting by colour helps ensure we use no chemical dyes.

Recycling

The waste is then pulped and re-spun into high-quality yarn through a process that eliminates the use of excess water or chemicals.

Designing & Handcrafting

We work with designers and craftswomen from various disciplines to create products that combine ethics and aesthetics.

The very mention of crocheting immediately makes people think of their grandmothers. India’s craftswomen, however, are doing much to ensure that the craft remains contemporary. Living in the little lanes of Mumbai’s most congested areas, a group of women use our designs and recycled yarn to create a line of luxury products. Having partnered with an NGO that is committed to women’s welfare, Chindi ensures its crafstwomen are creatively fulfilled and fairly remunerated.

—We believe a better world can be ethical and functional. Our work, we hope, will prove our faith.—

OUR PROMISE

To divert textile waste from landfills and incinerators, we are collaborating with brands, manufacturers and craftspeople. Together, we are trying to ask the pressing questions, but we are labouring even harder to find the right, sustainable answers. We endeavour to close each of our loops and turn every line into a circumference. Fashion, we believe, deserves our desire when it is made responsibly. We keep this thought firmly in mind when creating our lines of products.

We make from nothing. We make for impact.

CHINDI

A social enterprise that recycles textile waste into sustainable materials and products handmade by low-income craftspeople.